


C4A1TITLE

by Silverbreeze424



Category: Half-Life
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:40:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29424702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverbreeze424/pseuds/Silverbreeze424
Summary: “‘Hurry up Freeman, I can’t keep it open forever!’ The same scientist shouted, and Adrian saw a flash of orange and black, running towards something green and glowing.Nothing else in the room registered. That was Gordon Freeman. That was the bastard who started this whole mess!Adrian didn’t hesitate- they sprinted into the room and dove after Freeman.”—-A retelling of the end of Half-Life 1, from the perspective of Adrian Shephard.
Relationships: Gordon Freeman & Adrian Shephard
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	1. We Are Not Alone

“You must go, now!”

Adrian straightened themself up, and tried to listen to the faint voice of what sounded like a scientist- it was hard to hear over the constant ringing in their ears.

They glanced around and managed to regain their bearings, walking towards the voice. They slammed on the button by the blast door, and to their surprise, it opened.

“Hurry up Freeman, I can’t keep it open forever!” The same scientist shouted, and Adrian saw a flash of orange and black, running towards something green and glowing.

Nothing else in the room registered. That was Gordon Freeman. That was the bastard who started this whole mess!

Adrian didn’t hesitate- they sprinted into the room and dove after Freeman.

Everything flashed green, and then Adrian was laying prone, blinking up at a colorful sky unlike anything they’d ever seen before. They were temporarily awestruck by the beauty, before a metal boot slammed into their chest.

They wheezed, eyes jumping to the boot on their chest, before following it up to the source.

Gordon Freeman wasn’t what they expected- you hear about how many soldiers a man had killed, and he stopped being human. But the man in front of him was so very human.

His face was gaunt, green eyes wide and haunted. His hair was falling out of the little rat tail he had going, and there was an open wound on his cheek. He looked like an average guy. He looked like what a kid would draw if asked to draw a scientist. He looked like someone generated a random character from a database of only scrawny nerds. He looked _scared_.

And hell, if this guy had been through half of what Adrian had, he had every right to be. Adrian lifted their hands placatingly.

Freeman narrowed his eyes, but lowered his gun. The foot stayed firmly planted on his chest.

Adrian, for lack of anything better to do, took a better look around- the sky was teal blue and awash with pink nebulas, little points of warmly colored lights drifting aimlessly through it. Floating islands of what looked like rough, veined stone drifted aimlessly through the air. Some stayed stationary, others circled an unknown point. They were undeniably someplace entirely alien.

In some way, it made sense. Of course an alien invasion would end in going to the aliens home planet. In every other way, it defied all logic. Adrian wouldn't say they were someone who was all that attached to logic, they considered themself pretty open minded, but this… this was far too much to take in. Their breathing grew a bit more ragged, unrelated to the metal boot on their chest.

“L-listen-“ their voice croaked painfully. Was it really their first time talking since the Osprey crashed? They coughed, and that seemed to motivate Freeman to take his foot off their chest. With the newfound freedom, they took a deep breath. They did not, however, move to sit up. “We’re on an alien planet-“

Freeman started moving his hands, and Adrian realized, a bit belatedly, that it was sign- he only caught the last few letters, spelling out DERWORLD.

“...what?”

Freeman rolled his eyes, and gestured for Adrian to continue.

“We’re on an alien planet. We don’t know how to get back. We don’t even know why we’re here.”

“You’re assuming a lot of things,” Freeman signed, and Adrian rolled their eyes.

“Let me assume one more thing- the aliens we’ve been fighting are from here. We’ve been receiving a trickle, and now we’re in for a flood.”

Freeman continued to stare unblinkingly at Adrian, before slowly tilting his head to one side.

“I’m proposing we help each other out. You clearly don’t like me, and I don’t like you either, but we’ve both survived this long, imagine what we could do if we worked together.”

Freeman seemed to think this over for a long moment, before offering a hand. Adrian used it to pull themself up, and then gave it a firm shake.

“Adrian Shephard, Corporal assigned to the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit.”

Freeman rolled his eyes, looking incredibly unimpressed, but returned the handshake, before pulling back to finger spell his name.

“Doctor G-O-R-D-O-N F-R-E-E-M-A-N, theoretical physicist.”

Adrian snorted. They were already trying to one-up each other.

“Would say nice to meet you, but this experience has been completely awful through and through.”

Freeman’s eyes wrinkled up a bit at the corners, before he shook his head and looked around. Adrian followed his lead and his eyes, to where they landed on a nearby island. Nearby being relative, because that was still an impossible distance from them.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“Lower gravity.” Gordon signed, starting to back up.

“Not low enough!”

Freeman didn’t dignify that with an answer, instead taking a running leap and… landing safely on the island. Adrian’s jaw dropped. Freeman, despite being too far away to really tell, somehow managed to look smug.

“You gotta-“ Adrian called, before immediately breaking down into coughs- their throat, injured as it was from the crash, wasn’t used to making all this noise. Adrian decided to shut up, and started backing up. Either they’d make the jump, or fall into the endless void below- it’s not like they had anywhere else to go.

They broke into a sprint, jumped at the last possible second, and squeezed their eyes shut.

Their feet hit solid ground. They opened their eyes and- holy shit. They actually made it. They let out an incredulous chuckle, which quickly stopped when they looked over to Freeman- and more specifically, what he was looking at.

Near the edge of the island, one arm dangling off, was someone clad in the same orange and black suit as Freeman. It was a sobering sight, to say the least.

If they liked Freeman, maybe they would offer condolences or reassurances. As it was, they didn’t have anything to say. They set their eyes on the next island.

One of those three armed creatures with all the eyes was pacing the island. Adrian pulled out a gun, and took the thing down with a single shot. The gunfire jolted Freeman to attention, and he cast Adrian an unreadable glance, before backing up and taking a running leap at the island. Adrian followed.

They kept jumping from island to island, before they finally got close enough to the main one and dropped down. Adrian’s legs ached, but compared to all their other injuries, it wasn’t really worth noting. They took a moment to catch their breath, and then followed Freeman around as he scoured the island in search of the next place to go.

There was a spire jutting horizontally outwards, and, seeing no other option, Adrian dropped down. They landed easily, and then immediately almost fell off as a shock of purple energy slammed into their chest. They reeled backwards, foot landing on empty air, and their stomach dropped-

Just as Freeman dropped down and grabbed their hand. With his free hand, he shot a few bullets into an upside down pyramid attached to the roof. It shattered before the electrical assault could continue, and Adrian steadied himself on the spire, clutching Freeman’s hand like their life depended on it- for a moment there, it did. Freeman just looked at their hands, and then back up to Adrian. They took a deep breath, and managed to release Freeman’s hand.

“Felt that through the suit.” Freeman signed, and it was impossible to tell whether or not he was joking. Adrian hoped he wasn’t, because they didn’t really have it in them to laugh right now.

“Sorry,” they croaked instead, and Freeman just blinked at them, before turning away and walking onto the main body of the island.

With his gun still out, he unloaded a few rounds into the many-eyed dog like creature that charged him, not even slowing his stride as the creature fell. Adrian followed after, quietly impressed, even as they cast a sad glance to the fallen body of the creature.

Distracted as they were, they didn’t notice Freeman stop until they bumped into him, and they fell a few steps back.

Freeman was staring at a pool of teal liquid, and kneeled down to get a better look. Adrian kneeled down beside him, and stuck their hand in the water. Freeman startled, grabbing their wrist and yanking it out.

“No, wait,” Adrian said, flexing their fingers. The partially treated burn wounds on their hand had completely scarred over, and the pain had eased as well. Freeman squinted at the hand, and then hesitantly released their wrist.

Adrian’s first order of business was to poke a still wet finger against the cut on Freeman’s cheek, and then turn away before seeing his reaction. They resolutely did not look at Freeman as they started splashing the water up their arms, only to hesitate when they got to their face. They glanced at Freeman, whose hands were cupped in front of his face, water slowly trickling out of them.

Freeman didn’t seem to notice their eyes on him as he stuck his tongue out and cautiously lapped up a bit of the water. Adrian grimaced. Freeman seemed to consider the taste for a moment, before his face crumpled up violently and he dumped the rest of the water onto the ground, scowling and dragging his tongue over his teeth repeatedly in an attempt to get the taste out of his mouth. Adrian let out a bark of laughter, and Freeman turned to him with a pathetic glare. Adrian just snorted again, and turned back to the water.

They didn’t really want to take their mask off in front of Freeman, even if he had saved their life and wasn’t anywhere near as intimidating as they thought. It would be fine, they resolved, and stood up. Freeman did the same, surveying the area until his eyes landed on a gap in the walls of the island. He approached it, then dropped down onto his hands and knees, and started to crawl through.

Yesterday, Adrian would certainly have at least hesitated before cramming themself into a small opening like that, but they’d spent enough time in Black Mesa crawling through vents to know that sometimes small openings were the only way forward. Adrian crawled in after him.

Freeman stood up in front of them, and Adrian jumped at the sudden noise of a gunshot up ahead. Freeman stayed in place for a long moment, apparently observing the room, before clearing the way for Adrian to leave.

The room was large, cavernous, and decidedly a dead end. A few of those glowing tendrils swayed slightly in a nonexistent breeze, and four legged structures stood scattered about the room. Adrian would have opened fire just based on their strange resemblance to the parasitic crab things, had he not encountered them before and found them harmless, perhaps even inorganic.

Adrian glanced at Freeman, but considering he wasn’t turning back, decided to look around the room. Their first order of business was to go wave a hand near the glowing tendrils on the floor, simply because they liked watching the glow dim and the tendril sink into the ground. After that, their eyes landed on some sort of organic cage, and, for lack of anything better to do, they brought their wrench out and slammed it as hard as they could into it. It shattered easily, a few sharp fragments of whatever that was almost hitting Adrian. Now free from their prison, a few pale, floating rhombuses drifted into the main body of the cave.

Freeman stared at them from where he was standing on a raised platform across the room, fiddling with some sort of man-made looking pedestal. They both watched as one of the rhombuses circled around the pedestal, and then settled into place in the center of the clawed fingers on top. Across the room, the rest of the rhombuses settled into the rest of the pedestals, and there was a beat of silence, before bright green energy sparked from all of them, shooting up towards the ceiling with a deafening crackle. The whole cavern shook as the energy laced towards a structure in the center of the room. Adrian squeezed their eyes shut, hands going up to cover their ears despite the helmet already protecting them.

A hand wrapped around their wrist, and they didn’t even struggle as Freeman dragged them somewhere, and their stomach dropped.


	2. Gonarch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s better than a boring miniboss fight? Writing about a boring miniboss fight from a person who isn’t great at writing action!

When the crackling faded and Adrian opened their eyes, they weren’t in the cavern anymore, instead on an open island. Another broken body wearing the same suit as Freeman lay on the ground, and Adrian pointedly looked away, instead pulling out their gun and firing at two parasitic crab creatures before they could leap at them. They absently reloaded with gun, still looking in the same direction, and saw just about the biggest creature they’d seen so far.

It looked a bit like the crab creatures, if they were about 20 times the size and had a giant, pulsating, fleshy sack dangling beneath them. It let out a grating cry, and as it charged the two of them, the whole island seemed to shake beneath them. Without even thinking, Adrian pulled out his MP5 and stepped between Freeman and the beast. He steadied his stance, and fired as many bullets as he could into the massive sack beneath it. 

The charge didn’t slow for a moment, and Adrian dropped the MP5 in favor of grabbing the knife on the strap of their backpack. They spared a glance to Freeman- who had apparently caught on and was preparing to dive out of the way- before they adjusted their grip on the knife and ran to meet the creature. At the last moment, they dropped down to their knees, holding the knife above their head as they slid beneath it, creating a long gash on the bottom of the sack. It didn’t come anywhere close to piercing through it, but an injury was an injury. 

The beast shrieked, shaking itself and releasing a shower of something yellow-white. Instinctually, Adrian rolled out of the way, but a few droplets landed on their boots and corroded through a few layers of leather. Luckily, it didn’t manage to reach skin, and Adrian jumped back up to their feet, grabbing their MP5 off of the ground. 

The air erupted with the sound of gunfire yet again, but this time Adrian wasn’t the one making the noise. Freeman had backed himself into a corner, and was unloading a clip of his own SMG into the creature. Its assault on Adrian was abandoned in favor of attacking the newest threat. 

It charged Freeman, and the scientist didn’t even flinch until a giant leg was swinging towards him, massive claw ready to pierce. At the last possible moment, Freeman jumped out of the way, dodging around the claw and escaping between its legs.

Adrian fired a few more shots into it, and when it pried its giant claw from the stone structure it had embedded itself in, it turned tail and ran. Freeman took off after it, switching to a lighter gun so that he could continue to litter it with bullets even as it ran.

Adrian stepped in the way as Freeman paused to reload his gun. He finished reloading, looking up from the gun to glare at Adrian.

“It’s running! And we’re the ones in its territory anyway, can’t we just-“ they paused to cough. “Can’t we just leave it alone?” 

Freeman shook his head, gesturing around.

“We don’t know if fighting it’s the only way forward. Let’s look around first, and if we can’t find anything else, we can chase after it.”

Freeman continued to glare, but Adrian didn’t back down. He sighed and rolled his eyes, gesturing for Adrian to go. Adrian gave Gordon a smile, realized he couldn’t see it through the mask, and just nodded instead. 

Adrian’s first stop was the edge of the island. Starting there, they followed along the edge of the cliffs, looking for any gap that they could fit through. 

They approached a trio of sharp-tipped tentacles, quickly distracted from their goal by the strange life form. It was moving slightly, but perhaps it was just as inorganic as the four legged structures…? Adrian reached out a curious hand, only to quickly yank it away when the nearest tentacle swung down, almost piercing straight through their hand. 

Seems like it was organic after all, perhaps some kind of carnivorous plant? Did it absorb nutrients through the sharp end of the tentacle, or was there a ‘mouth’ somewhere that it would deposit prey into? Perhaps this wasn’t even a feeding method at all, and was simply a method of self defense? Couldn’t hurt to check, maybe Adrian could grab one of the crabs they shot earlier and throw it at it, they wouldn’t be able to observe it over time but they could get a good amount of information just from the first few seconds of the attack-

They glanced over to the dead crabs, and found Freeman regarding them with something between curiosity and impatience. 

Right. They were looking for a way off of this planet, not information about the local flora and fauna. 

They ended up walking the full length of the island, and found that the only way forward was through the tunnel the creature had passed through. After checking around one more time, they sighed and looked back to an unbearably smug looking Freeman. Adrian bit back the urge to yell or throw a punch, and instead just flipped Freeman off before storming into the tunnel alone. Judging by the heavy boot falls behind them, Freeman was following. 

The tunnel was longer than they expected, and before they could even see the other end, Freeman caught up to Adrian. Advantages of long legs and a suit of robo armor, Adrian guessed.

Freeman started signing something, and despite missing a few words, Adrian caught most of it.

“-more consideration for the life of an alien trying to kill us then those of a bunch of innocent scientists.”

Adrian froze. Freeman got a few steps forward, and then stopped as well, turning back to fix Adrian with an unreadable look. Adrian’s hands shook at their sides.

“I didn’t-“ their voice shook, so they swallowed, and clenched their hands into fists to steady them. “I didn’t kill anyone. Never even received orders to. I didn’t- I wouldn’t- I would never- I don’t want to kill anyone, especially not some- hapless scientists-“

Freeman’s expression softened, just a bit.

“Sounds like you chose the wrong career.”

Adrian barked out a laugh, and then coughed a few times, throat stinging. “Yeah, no fucking kidding.”

Adrian shook their head and pushed past Freeman to keep walking, and Freeman fell into place behind them.

Unnatural light shone from up ahead as they turned a curve in the tunnel. The giant creature was up ahead, clawing at the ground, seemingly oblivious to the humans right behind it. Freeman cast Adrian a glance, and Adrian huffed, but nodded- they weren’t stupid enough to think the creature wouldn’t attack as soon as it spotted them. They might as well get a few early hits in. 

Freeman pulled out his SMG again, making sure it was fully loaded before he unloaded it into the creature. It shrieked and started to rush towards them. Freeman ducks out of the tunnel, and Adrian follows. 

The beast was charging, but not fast enough for it to lose control. Freeman had to keep running to stay out of the way, and he wasn’t looking where he’s going, instead keeping his eyes on the beast and only occasionally glancing forward to make sure he wasn't headed straight off the island. 

He wasn’t m looking forward now, and while the edge of the island was still some way off, Freeman was heading directly towards one of the tentacle things. Adrian dashed towards him, and yanked him back, just as a tentacle stabs downwards, embedding itself in the ground where Freeman stood seconds prior. 

Freeman stared, and Adrian let out a relieved breath, releasing his wrist. He glanced back, and raised a hand to sign something, but before he could, the creature made itself known once again. A shower of that off white acid rained down between them, and they both stumbled back and away from each other. Adrian grabbed their MP5 and showered the creature with bullets, pulling its attention to them. It was far enough away that it charged full speed, and Adrian could easily dodge out of the way.

Freeman started firing as soon as they stopped, and the two fell into an easy rhythm, switching between who’s firing to give the other a chance to dodge and reload. The creature is retreating again in no time, and they both take a moment to catch their breath.

“Thanks,” Freeman signed simply when Adrian glanced over at him. Adrian just nodded, shaking out their arms. 

They didn’t bother looking around this time, instead following the creature into another tunnel before it's even fully out of sight.

This tunnel was lit by a deep green light, and to continue their pursuit Adrian and Freeman had to drop down. Adrian was fairly certain their knees would be reduced to dust by the end of this, but again, that was only if they actually reached the end of this at all. 

Adrian landed in the next section of the tunnel just in time to see the creature drop down even further. They groaned inwardly, and followed. Freeman thudded down beside them. 

They glanced down to where the creature had fallen, and found it suspended on a webbed netting. Adrian was a bit surprised that it could support its weight, its claws balanced on the strands and miraculously not stabbing through. 

Adrian cast a glance to Freeman- it was a bigger drop than they were willing to make, they couldn’t hit the sack from up here, and it was fairly safe to assume that that was the only vulnerable part of the creature. Freeman looked to Adrian, shrugged, and dropped down. 

Adrian sighed, and followed. They were stunned for a moment, feet hitting the ground hard enough to lock them in place. Thankfully, they managed to move before a claw strikes through the netting and stabs down at them.

From this angle, they both have a clear shot on the beast, and the beast very much doesn’t have a clear shot on them. Adrian and Gordon both unloaded their guns into it, easily dodging the occasional shower of the off-white fluid, until the beast roared, and crashed onto its side. The netting tore and crumbled beneath it, and the force of its body hitting the floor of the cave had that crumbling as well, leaving a large hole.

Adrian glanced at Freeman, and jumped down after it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up on Thursday!


	3. Aircraft

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for a panic attack and brief passive suicidal ideation! Summary and specifics will be in the end notes.

Once their vision cleared, Adrian found themself on a small island, looking towards a distant structure surrounding a glowing green orb. That looked like a final destination, but as far as they could tell there wasn’t any way to get there.

Hopefully things would line up later. Until then, they just had to get a better look around.

Freeman was at their side, facing the other direction, towards a larger island nearby. He fired off a shot towards something in the air, but Adrian was quickly distracted by the bolt of green energy that brushed right past their arm. 

They dropped down off the smaller island, and raised their pistol. 

“You go high, I’ll go low!” Adrian called out, and didn’t look for a response from Freeman before rushing forward to get a clearer shot on one of the three armed creatures. 

Adrian poured their focus entirely into the three armed creatures wandering the island and the gun in their hands. Once they had seen all they could and found nothing more attacking them, they looked up to try to get an idea of Freeman’s progress, and their gut churned at what they saw.

How hadn’t they noticed them earlier? Large, manta ray-like creatures floating through the alien skies, weaving lazily between floating islands… their diamond shaped forms were all too familiar.

A windowed view of the mesas from the door of the Osprey, the banter of their squad, shooting the shit because what could happen at a science facility of all places, the other Osprey in the distance, the strange and alien shapes darting into view and then immediately out, the crackle of the radio, the yelling, the screaming, the way the creature perched over the Osprey, the glow it produced the sound of twisting metalandpanicandcreamingandtheywerenexttheywerenexttheywerenext-

Something wrapped around Adrian’s wrist, and the only response they could manage was a whine as they were dragged somewhere. They vaguely registered walking, seeing the walls of a tunnel close in around them, a soothing blue-green glow of a pool of water ahead, but they couldn’t focus on any of it.

Searing pain, unlike anything they ever felt before, a crumbled corpse of an Osprey, bright cyan crackles of energy, gunfire, heavy boot falls, searing pain, darkness, screaming, a familiar face limp and dead just barely in view, crackling energy, cold linoleum, searing pain-

Relief. Something cold and wet around their legs, grounding. Fingers interlaced with their own, grounding. Loud, exaggerated breathing, grounding.

Adrian blinked a few times. They were on the alien planet, in some kind of tunnel lit by blue-green light. The healing water was up to just above their boots, soaking through their pant legs. Freeman was in front of them, looking vaguely panicked, hands in Adrian’s own. 

“Whu…?” Adrian managed, blinking a few more times.

Freeman pulled back, and signed a few words far too quickly for Adrian’s panic addled mind to understand.

“... what?”

Freeman slowed his hand movements. “What happened?”

“What did it look like?” Adrian bit out, and Freeman’s face just scrunched up more. They sighed. “I saw those…” they make a diamond shape with their thumbs and forefingers. “Those flying things before.”

Freeman tilted his head. Adrian sighed and placed a hand on the clasps of their gas mask.

“Those things… I don’t- they crashed the Osprey I was in, another one too, they- it killed my entire squad, and I- I barely-“ they lifted their arm, showing off the burn scars. Freeman winced. “I think- half the people they sent in died be-before even stepping into the building proper- think I was- I think they were the lucky ones.”

“For what it’s worth…” Freeman’s hands paused. “I’m glad you're here. I don’t know if I would’ve made it this far without you.” 

Adrian sighed, but any further words got caught in their throat. They signed a quick ‘thank you’, and then lifted their hands back up to the clasps of their mask. Before they could think too hard about it, they undid the clasps and let the mask fall to the side. They hunched up their shoulders and resolutely looked at anything but Gordon as they splashed the healing water onto the burnt side of their face. 

Gordon, for his part, didn’t react beyond a sharp inhale, and as soon as the wounds had scarred over, Adrian clipped the gas mask back into place. They wordlessly stood up, and Gordon looked at them. 

“We should keep going,” they signed slowly, movements clunky from lack of use and scar tissue.

Gordon nodded hesitantly. “Are you ok?”

“No. But there’s no point dwelling on it right now.”

Gordon sighed, but nodded and followed.

Adrian lead the way through the cave, looking for any way forward and hoping he wouldn’t have to leave the cave to find it. Luckily, they found a small alcove with a drop deeper into the cave. Were it not for the decreased gravity, Adrian was fairly certain that their knees would be reduced to dust by now.

As it was, they just glanced at Gordon, and dropped down. The tunnel they dropped into was a tight squeeze, and Adrian ended up having to drop onto their stomach to continue. The ground was the same rough stone for only a few feet, before thick, red fluid lapped up against Adrian’s hand. They pulled back, and Gordon made a questioning noise from behind them.

Adrian just sighed, and reluctantly continued forward. The liquid was luke warm and sticky, and Adrian picked up the pace just to be out of it sooner. The tunnel eventually came to an end with an organic grate, and they wasted no time busting through it with their wrench. Finally able to stand up fully, Adrian did so and shook the liquid off their hands. Gordon followed, and did the same, a similarly disgruntled expression on his face. 

Once their hands were acceptably dry, they glanced around the cave. The walls were a sickly green, the patterns reminding Adrian of a spine, or a centipede. The thick red fluid lapped around their feet, and thin, dark tendrils rose up from the water, quivering slightly. Stalactites clung to the ceiling, though some seemed to have the tip broken off, a hole visible in the center. Adrian pointed to those, and Gordon nodded, leading the way into the room while carefully avoiding stepping under any of them. He shot a pair of the crab creatures as he walked into the room, and stepped towards the tunnel leading out of the room, only for sharp stone structures to rise out of the ground, blocking the way forward like a giant set of razor sharp teeth. Gordon turned back to Adrian, giving them a wide eyed blink. Adrian shrugged and stepped into the room, approaching the blocked tunnel and reaching out to touch the stone. Before they could reach, however, the stones slowly began to sink back into the ground and ceiling. They turned back to Gordon and shrugged, leading the way into the next section of the cave.

They found themself at the top of a small ramp, overlooking another room full of red fluid and stone structures. A few of the red creatures clung to the ceiling, rope-like tongues dangling down. Adrian had accidently stepped into one a few too many times, and shot all the ones they could see to avoid repeating that incident this time. 

With Gordon in tow, they jumped down and continued to the far side of the cave. There was a whine, and Adrian jumped out of the way as a glob of acid rushed past them. One of the bipedal squid creatures hissed at them from across the cave. Before Adrian could even pull out their gun, Gordon made quick work of it, and they pressed forward.

Adrian spent a few minutes poking around the next room, until they heard a loud crash, and found Gordon pulling himself through another small gap in the wall. Adrian followed, and they found themselves in a tight room with little more than a glowing tendril and one of those organic grates. It didn’t seem to lead anywhere, but Adrian smashed their wrench against it just for the satisfying crack it made when they did.

To their surprise, the pillar behind it started to descend, and they waved Gordon over to look. 

The whole cave, maybe the whole island, shook a bit as the pillar settled into place, flush with the floor of the cave. Adrian, somewhat unthinkingly, stepped forward, and the pillar lurched beneath them. They threw out their hands to steady themself, and then reached to Gordon. Words were still failing them, but Gordon seemed to understand as he took their hand and pulled himself up onto the pillar, steadying himself beside Adrian as it continued to ascend.

Adrian glanced up to the greenish sky, and then immediately squeezed their eyes shut when they saw something move above them. Gordon’s hand, still in their own, tightened its grasp.

The stiff air of the cave loosened around them, telling Adrian that they were out in the open air now. They squeezed back, and took a long, deep breath. It would be fine. 

The pillar shuddered as it locked into place, and Adrian reluctantly opened their eyes. Gordon instantly pointed to a smaller floating island, and Adrian focused on that and nothing else. The size of the pillar didn’t allow for a running start, so Adrian just let go of Gordon’s hand and jumped. Their feet hit solid ground, and they kept their eyes firmly fixated on it until Gordon landed beside them, tapped their shoulder, and pointed to the next island. 

The two got into an easy rhythm of pointing and jumping and, on Adrian’s end, not looking at their surroundings any more than was strictly necessary, and Gordon was incredibly accommodating. They wondered if, if things had been different, they could have been friends. They wondered if they were anyway. 

The easy rhythm doesn’t last for long, though, as they eventually land on an island, and when Gordon tapped their shoulder, he began to sign instead of point.

“The only way to get to the portal is to jump onto one of the…” his hands fluttered as he tried to settle on the next word. “Aircraft. None of the islands get close enough.”

Adrian shuddered. Sure, as far as they knew, the only dangerous part of the animal was on the ventral side, but they weren’t exactly ready to test that theory. They weren’t ready to get anywhere near the creature that had almost killed them. They shook their head.

Freeman frowned. “That’s the only way. I’ve been watching for a few minutes, the aircraft are the only thing that get close enough.”

Adrian shook their head.

“I can go first?”

Adrian shook their head, even more vehemently this time. Something about Gordon going off alone and dying scared them more than the thought of dying themself.

“J…” Adrian cleared their throat. “Just point. I’ll jump.”

Freeman nodded, still looking uncertain, and fixed his eyes on something in the distance- watching the movements of one of the ‘aircraft’, Adrian guessed, before pointing off to the right.

Adrian swallowed thickly, and turned around. They didn’t let themself process what they were jumping towards before they did it, landing on the back of one of the creatures. Their knees buckled beneath them. Gordon landed beside them a moment later, and placed a supportive hand on their shoulder. The creature beneath them let out a low noise, reminiscent of whale song, but otherwise didn’t react to its new passengers.

Adrian just stared down at the mottled blue skin of the creature, feeling it shift slightly beneath their hands. The skin was colder than the air around it, soft and smooth. It reminded Adrian of petting stingrays at the aquarium as a kid, and the thought calmed them considerably. Between the fond memories and Gordon’s firm hand on their shoulder, Adrian managed to avoid another panic attack, and they pulled themself up to their feet. 

For the first time since their escape from the cave, Adrian looked around, and didn’t have to wait for Gordon’s signal before they jumped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Gordon and Adrian arrive on the next island, and Adrian fights some vortigaunts. After that threat is dealt with, they look up and see the ‘alien aircraft’, the manta ray like creatures that took out their plane when they first arrived at Black Mesa. They have a panic attack as they recall those events, until Gordon leads them into a cave and draws them out of their panic. They explain what happened, and say that they think the soldiers who died when they arrived got the better deal. Gordon says that he’s glad that they’re there with him, and the narration goes from referring to Gordon as ‘Freeman’ to referring to him as ‘Gordon’. They go through the cave, step onto a pillar that rises out of it, and then have to jump from island to island to get to the portal, with Gordon leading Adrian through. The floating islands don’t get close enough to the portal, so they have to jump onto the back of one of the ‘aircraft’. Adrian is reluctant, but does so, and they arrive at the portal.
> 
> I am very unhappy with this chapter but here it is! Next chapter is one of my favorites, and will be out on Sunday :)


	4. Boss Rush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the ‘graphic depictions of violence’ warning comes in! I didn’t get too gorey with it but someone does get injured pretty badly.

When their vision cleared, they found themself in another cave. There was plenty of space around them, but the ceiling was low. Low enough that when Gordon appeared beside them, he bumped his head on the roof of the cave, letting out a startled grunt. Adrian snorted, and Gordon gave them a glare.

“At least I can reach the top shelves of an average cabinet.” Gordon signed, and Adrian let out a laugh.

“Low blow.”

“There’s no other kind with you.”

Adrian jabbed Gordon in the side with an elbow, aiming between the chest plate and the codpiece of his HEV suit. The hit landed, and Gordon slapped their arm away with an amused huff, before leading the way out of the cave. They smiled to themself, and followed.

As they neared the exit of the cave, they heard a rhythmic tapping up ahead, and as they stepped out of the cave the source became obvious. To one side, a large tentacle ending with a sharp tip slammed its blade repeatedly into the ground, wearing grooves into the stone. Adrian silently wondered if it was related to the smaller tentacle creatures, or if the resemblance was strictly superficial. They were snapped out of their thoughts as Gordon started signing beside them. Adrian only caught the word rocket.

“What?”

“Had to defeat one of those back in Black Mesa with a rocket. Was asking if you had one.”

Adrian snorted. “If I did, I would’ve gotten us off this planet a long time ago.”

Gordon sighed, shaking his head with mock disappointment, before turning and walking the other direction. Adrian, as always, followed.

Around the other side of the cave was a series of the smaller sharp-tipped tentacles, all stabbing at the ground in rhythm. While Adrian was distracted with that- why were they tapping when there was nothing nearby? Were whatever senses the tentacles had confused by the vibrations of the larger tentacle?- Gordon fired off a few shots at a large, armored alien standing up on a ridge. Adrian snapped out of their thoughts at the sound of gunfire, and got a better look around. Their eyes landed on another one of the same creatures, and they shot it down, clearing the way for Gordon to head towards a large cave opening across the clearing. Adrian watched his back as they followed, gun still at the ready.

The cave was larger than most they’d been in, but appeared to have collapsed sometime recently if the large pieces of rubble scattered around were anything to go by. Adrian brushed past Gordon to take the lead this time, squeezing between two pieces of rubble and climbing over another to get a look at the exit of the cave. What they saw through the opening was something huge, blue, and turning a single red eye towards them. Adrian’s heart leaped in their chest, and they instantly turned back, vaulting over the rubble and sprinting into the cave. The whole cave shook with the footsteps that followed them, and Gordon didn’t even wait to see what it was before he grabbed Adrian’s hand and tugged them up into a small groove in the wall, hopefully out of sight of the giant creature.

It smashed through the rubble like it wasn’t even there, pausing in the main room and swerving its giant approximation of a head around, before letting out a resigned growl and storming through the other entrance of the cave. Gordon and Adrian stayed put for a long moment, before they both let out a breath, and Gordon released his grip on Adrian. They carefully stepped down from their hiding place, and led the way through the opening.

The next clearing was rather small and in a similar state of disrepair, rubble littered around and large cracks lacing the walls. On one side there was a small opening, on the other a large one. They guessed that they’d have to cram themself into the large one either way, but they could at least put it off.

They lead Gordon towards the larger opening, vaulting over the rocks and almost immediately falling into a gap on the other side. They regained their footing, and leaped to the next outcropping, and then to the other side, steadying themself before they could trip into the dangling tongue of the creature latched to the ceiling. As Gordon began to follow, Adrian unloaded a few bullets into the creature until it shriveled up and unloaded its guts onto the floor below. Gordon landed beside them just as two bladed heads raised out of the pit before them, instantly beginning to slam violently against the ground. Adrian stumbled back a step.

“Any other tips for dealing with these? Other than rockets?” Adrian whispered, turning to Gordon.

In response, he produced a grenade, pulling out the pin and throwing it toward the tentacles. They were both sent reeling, and Gordon wasted no time rounding behind it in a race to the other side. Adrian dashed to follow, and from their position behind him, he could easily see a third tentacle rise up out of another pit, head twisting before surging down towards Gordon.

“Gordon, wait-“ Adrian called out, and Gordon’s steps faltered. He began to look back, but his eyes caught on the bladed tentacle rushing towards him, he stumbled back, his foot slipped on the edge-

The tentacle slammed down, piercing through the black undersuit of Gordon’s armor, and judging by the wet thunk it pierced a lot more than that. The tentacle reared back again, and Adrian bolted forward, pulling out his gun and firing it up towards the blade. It hit with a loud clang, disorienting the beast long enough for Adrian to grab the collar of the armor and drag Gordon away, ducking behind a wall.

Gordon made a pained sound, just barely audible over the tapping still ringing out behind them. Adrian reached a hand out towards the gaping wound in his side, and then pulled it back.

“I- I can- just- just stay here I’ll find a medkit or a pool or something it’ll be fine-“ Adrian stammered out in a rush, hands still fluttering around the wound. Gordon squeezed his eyes shut and nodded, hands clenched into tight fists at his side. Adrian eased him down against the wall, moving one fisted hand to cover the wound before pulling away. “J-just hold that and stay here.”

Adrian didn’t wait for a response- not that Gordon seemed keen on giving one anyway- before continuing through the narrow passageway.

They rounded the corner, and one of the buzzing bullets from the large bipedal aliens sliced past their arm, leaving a deep cut across it. Adrian didn’t duck back or hesitate. They just pulled out their MP5 and unloaded bullets into the creature until it slumped to the ground and the clip was empty.

Adrian didn’t give themself a moment to catch their breath before they continued to explore, rounding around a large rock only to find another one of the armored bipeds. This close, Adrian wasn’t about to fire at it, and they dropped their MP5 to the ground. Instead, they pulled out their wrench, and without thought or reason slammed it into the creature over and over and over, each hit landing with a heavy thwap of metal against tough skin. Clearly the creature wasn’t expecting this, and didn’t even have time to figure out a new action plan before Adrian broke something essential and it went limp at their feet.

Adrian clutched the wrench in both shaking hands, panting heavily as they stared at the creature at their feet. It stayed where it was, limp upon the rocky ground.

Adrian blinked a few times, and their eyes drifted to a familiar orange suit, slumped limply against the wall, the form of it mirroring Gordon’s far too closely. They didn’t have a chance to dwell on it for too long before their eyes caught in the medical kit clutched in their hands. Adrian’s heart skipped a beat, and they pried it free, rushing back towards Gordon as soon as it was in their grasp.

Gordon flinched at the sound of approaching footsteps, blinking blearily at Adrian as they approached. His hand clutched over the wound, and he pressed himself tighter against the wall as if expecting a blow.

“It’s- it’s just me it’s ok I found a medical kit-it-it’s gonna be fine-“ Adrian stuttered out, and Gordon relaxed just enough for Adrian to kneel down and pull his hand away.

The wound was a gorey sight, tearing all the way through from one side of his abdomen to the other. Luckily, it seemed to have missed anything vital, judging by the fact Gordon was still breathing.

“Who’s genius idea was it to cover everything but your fucking organs?” Adrian hissed, pulling the medical kit closer and popping it open with one hand.

He pulled out a small bottle of antiseptic, looking it over briefly before pouring the whole thing out on the wound. Gordon hissed, legs kicking against the ground. Adrian held him steady with one hand, and pulled out the bandages with the other. They wrapped them tight around the entirety of Gordon’s abdomen until there were no more bandages left and they tucked the end in. It took no more than a minute for the bandages to be completely soaked through, but it was the best Adrian could manage.

Adrian tried to think of something to say, an apology, a check in, anything, but they came up empty, just staring at the ever-growing splotch of blood on the bandages.

Freeman’s posture eventually relaxed against the wall, and Adrian panicked.

“Gordon!? Hang in there oh god-“ They scrambled to look for anything else in the kit, there had to be something that could help but they didn’t think a tablet of ibuprofen would do anything against impalement-

Gordon laid a hand over Adrian’s, stilling their movement.

“I’m fine. Morphine’s kicking in. I’ll be fine in a second.”

Adrian was prepared to protest, but just nodded silently, before falling back from their squatted position to sit against the wall.

“... hey, well we’re waiting, I have a couple of questions.”

Gordon tilted his head curiously.

“What do you call all those things we’ve been fighting? Like the little parasitic crab guys?”

“H-E-A-D C-R-A-B-S,” Gordon signed with a faint smile.

Adrian snorted. “Very literal. What about the three legged things with all the eyes?”

oOo

Eventually, the morphine- and whatever else was in the liquid the suit injected him with- had fully taken effect, and while Adrian still felt uncertain, Gordon insisted they moved forward. Adrian reluctantly agreed, on the condition that Gordon let them support him for a bit. A deal was struck, and the two of them hobbled down the path in tandem.

Despite the relatively short length of the path, it took the pair a while before they arrived at the clearing Adrian had found the med kit in. Gordon looked to the portal in clear view across the clearing, and then to Adrian, pulling away enough to sign.

“You could have told me the portal was right there.”

Adrian blinked at the crackling beam of light contained between three pillars.

“... I’m not gonna lie, I missed that completely.”

Gordon gave them an incredulous look.

“What? I was a bit distracted! I thought you were going to die!”

He snorted, shaking his head with a fond smile. “I would have, if it wasn’t for you.”

Adrian sputtered, and pushed Gordon through the portal in response.


	5. The Factory

Once their vision focused, they found themself somewhere completely unlike everywhere else they’d been- it looked more like a hallway than the tunnels of a cave, straight walls meeting the ground at perfect 90 degree angles.

Gordon seemed similarly perplexed, running a hand along the wall and glancing around. Adrian took this moment of distraction as an opportunity to push past him, hoping to clear out any threats before Gordon even moved from the hallway.

When they turned the corner, they only got more confused. It looked like a factory, with elevators and conveyor belts transporting something that looked like large, blue barrels. Large support columns rose from the ground to the ceiling.

They were so distracted by the baffling sight that they didn’t notice one of the smaller three armed creatures on the catwalk above until that green energy slammed into their arm, sending pain racing through it. They stumbled to the side, and pulled out a hand gun with their other arm, shooting up at the creature until it stumbled back and plummeted from the catwalk. Adrian shook out the arm it hit, and once they regained feeling in their fingers, replaced the handgun with something with a bit more fire power as they stepped further into the room, eyes now scanning for threats. They found quite a few in the form of both the two-legged creatures and something they hadn’t noticed before- little creatures with large heads that shot- ow- something orange and searingly painful at them. They shot down as many as they could, before gunfire rose up behind them and they realized Gordon had caught up.

“I can handle this one,” Adrian said. “The recoil can’t be good for your wound.”

Gordon narrowed his eyes, and brushed past Adrian to lead the way.

Adrian was left to follow, eyes darting around. “It’s not like I don’t think you can handle yourself, it’s just that you don’t have to anymore.” They took a deep breath. “I know you’ve been alone through the rest of this but… I’m here now. I’ve got your back,” they concluded, and instantly felt like turning back and running away. Emotional honesty was not necessarily their strong suit.

Freeman stopped in front of them, and their mask clanged against his armor when they didn’t follow suit, sending them stumbling back a few paces as they tried to reorient themself. Freeman stood there, still and silent for a moment, and their desire to bolt grew stronger by the second.

Eventually, he turned around, his facial expression more vulnerable than Adrian had ever seen it. “Thank you,” he signed, and then signed a few more times for good measure.

Adrian let out a relieved breath, and pushed Gordon’s hand down before he could sign it again. 

“Just let me lead the way. I’m not trying to do everything alone, but I just want to-“ Adrian cut themself off with a huff, shrugging when they couldn’t find the rest of their words. Freeman just nodded like he understood perfectly, and gestured for them to lead. 

They did, following the ramp up to a small ledge, and jumping on one of the rising platforms when it sank to the ground nearby. Gordon followed, and they both stepped off on the next level. Adrian shot down a few more aliens that they apparently had missed, before exploring the level further. To the right of where they stepped off was some sort of glowing pod, the energy lacing inside of it a similar color to the healing water, and with that thought in mind, they walked over to it and stuck their arm in. Gordon made a soft noise of distress behind them, but they ignored it as they watched the gash on their arm stitch shut, leaving nothing but a pale scar. 

They turned to show it off, and when Gordon didn’t instantly react, they grabbed him and shoved him into the pod instead. Gordon struggled for a moment, before freezing, and then letting out a long, relieved sigh, slumping against the wall of the pod. Adrian was happy to pace the length of the new level, keeping an eye out for any more threats while Gordon healed.

“Makes you wonder how intelligent these species are,” Gordon signed when Adrian deemed this level safe and turned back to him.

“I’ve been trying not to,” Adrian admitted, glancing down to the gun in their hands.

Gordon frowned, but nodded. “We’re only doing what we have to,” he signed, before slowly pushing himself off of the wall and stepping out of the pod.

“I know. Still doesn’t feel good to kill- I mean, it felt bad killing things when I thought they were just animals, and now, knowing they’re intelligent enough to make whatever all this is?” Adrian sighed, not finishing their point. Gordon seemed to understand anyway- he was good at that.

Gordon squinted at them. “You’re a softy.”

Adrian bristled, feeling suddenly defensive. “Fuck off.”

“No, I just mean- how did you end up joining the military? It doesn’t seem to suit you.”

Adrian grimaced, letting Gordon prove he was steady on his feet before leading them up onto the top of the last elevator.

“Yeah, it sure doesn’t. I just wanted to go to college, man. I wanted to be a zoologist, for fucks sake! But my family didn’t have the money, and, I don’t know, the propaganda- the military recruiters- it got to me. I thought I’d be able to leave my shitty hometown and make something of myself, you know, protect people, make a difference.” He jumped off onto the conveyor belt, and Gordon followed. “Clearly, that didn’t work out. I was just glad I got assigned to the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, figured it’d be more, I don’t know, saving people from collapsing buildings and less killing them, but,” Adrian breathed out a sad laugh, stepping off the conveyor and onto an unmoving platform. “clearly that wasn’t how it ended up either.” 

Freeman gave them a pitying look and a soft pat on the shoulder, and Adrian shrugged it off.

“Whatever,” they dismissed, stepping onto the next conveyor belt, before adding, more quietly. “It was kinda nice to actually talk about that for once.”

They didn’t turn back to look, but they could sense Gordon’s self-satisfied aura behind them all the same. 

Before Adrian could comment on it, however, the conveyor belt came to an end, dumping Adrian into a small pool of water a few feet below. They barely managed to scramble out of the way before Gordon came tumbling in after them.

“I think that would have killed me,” Adrian said as they leaped out of the pool. “Got all the way to an alien planet, only to be crushed underneath my f-“ they cut themself off- “my teammate.”

Gordon snorted, jumping out to land beside them. “You gave me your tragic backstory, we’re friends now.”

Adrian sputtered, swatting at his arm, knocking it down before it could sign anything else. Gordon just laughed silently, and Adrian stormed off before this could continue, resolving to not think about how happy someone openly admitting to being their friend made them. They were 22, for Christ sake, not a kindergartener.

Gordon followed, radiating the same self satisfied aura as before, which Adrian resolutely ignored as they jumped over a thicker conveyor belt and walked along the other side of it. 

Between the barrels, they could see what appeared to be another section of the factory- if they timed it right, they could get over there. They weren’t sure if it was the way forward, but it was certainly something they could do- they stood against the back wall, waited for a barrel to pass, and then dashed onto the conveyor belt, stepping off of it as soon as they were around the wall. On this side they could see quite a few more of those floating creatures, so Adrian pulled out their hand gun and using the barrels as cover shot down as many as they could before Gordon joined them and took out the rest. Adrian just gave him a grateful nod, refusing to acknowledge their previous interaction. 

Adrian carefully skirted around the edge of the platforms as they continued into the next room, sending a nervous glance over the edge every now and again. It didn’t look bottomless, but it was still a drop that would kill them if they attempted it. 

“I don’t think this place is OSHA compliant,” Adrian joked, and Gordon huffed out a laugh behind them.

“I don’t think Black Mesa was either.”

“Fair enough- you think most science facilities have as many bottomless pits and open vatts of radioactive sludge as Black Mesa does?”

“I could only hope. I think I’m out of a job and I don’t know if I could make it in a workplace that wasn’t constantly putting me in danger.”

Adrian barked out a laugh, and Gordon gave them a grin as they continued forward. Adrian let out an exaggerated gasp as they turned the corner into the next room.

“Look, railing! We’re getting closer to OSHA compliance by the second!”

Gordon snorted, and pointed over to the pair of large, rapidly moving pistons that seemed to be the only way up to the next floor.

“I said that we were getting closer, not that we were there yet,” Adrian shot back, leaping onto the first piston, and then on to the platform across from it. Gordon took the safer route, jumping from one piston to the next, and then completing the smaller leap to the platform. Adrian rolled their eyes, but waited for him all the same before heading into the next room.

The next room seemed to be a storage room of some kind, support pillars and barrels scattered around. Adrian cautiously stepped in, and was almost instantly assaulted by that crackling green energy from one of the three armed creatures. Adrian fell back, shaking out their arm until they could feel their fingers again before pulling out their handgun.

They rushed back into the room, and found that Gordon had taken out quite a few of the aliens in their absence. They joined him in taking out the rest. It took more time and ammo then Adrian would have wanted, and their body ached from both recoil and whatever that green energy is. They leaned against one of the barrels, steadily reloading their gun and checking their ammo- it’s not looking great, but hopefully they won’t be here for too much longer. A few feet away, Gordon did the same, though much more quickly. 

Eventually, with guns reloaded and fingers no longer numb, Adrian glanced to Gordon, and flicked their head towards the exit. Gordon nodded, and allowed Adrian to take the lead into the next hallway. It’s blocked by one of those barrels, just barely large enough that Adrian doesn’t think they could pull themself up over it. 

Gordon walked over to it, kneeled down, and laced his fingers together in front of him. He glanced to Adrian expectantly. They hesitated, but ultimately stepped forward, and then onto Gordon’s interlaced fingers. They barely dipped under their weight. Once Adrian steadied themself, Gordon brought his arms upwards, and Adrian scrambled up onto the top of the barrel. They laid down on their stomach and reached a hand out to pull up Gordon, but he waved them off, instead pulling himself up without any assistance. Adrian rolled their eyes.

“Show off,” Adrian scoffed as they jumped down on the other side of the barrel.

“The H-E-V suit is heavy!” Gordon protested, dropping down beside them. “Also I’m tall enough to actually reach the top of the barrel without a boost.”

“Asshole!” Adrian spat, slamming their shoulder into Gordon’s chest, which ultimately only seemed to hurt them. Gordon snorted, and led them into the next room.

The room was largely empty, other than the healing pod in the corner and a few support beams and a barrel. The three armed creatures got a few good hits on Adrian, but they weren’t actively bleeding, so they figured it was ok. They turned away from the healer, and looked around the rest of the room instead. Their eyes landed on a series of rectangular holes in the wall. Other than the red hue and the strange particles emerging from them, they looked like vents. 

“Can’t escape crawling through vents even on an alien planet,” Adrian joked, and Gordon looked over. He stepped away from the healing pod to stand beside Adrian, looking down at the vents with a hard to distinguish expression.

“I used to go in the vents even before all this started. First, it was because my mentor kept getting himself locked out of our lab, and I had to go in and open the door for him, and eventually it started just being a place to hide from the higher ups.” Adrian laughed, and Gordon smiled. “I had a friend- B-A-R-N-E-Y- whenever K-L-E-I-N-E-R got locked out of the labs, we would race to see who could get to the lab first.” Gordon huffed out a fond laugh, but his face grew distinctly sad. “I hope they’re ok.”

Adrian placed a hand on his shoulder. “I think we managed to get the worst of it, between you being at the center of it all and me rushing directly into danger. Either way, you’ve done all you can for them- let’s just try to make it back to Earth in one piece.”

Gordon nodded- he still looked a bit upset, but the words clearly got through to him. Adrian inwardly let out a sigh of relief- they were never that great at comforting people, so they were glad that worked. 

“Let’s get going,” Adrian prompted, giving Gordon a final pat on the back before dropping onto their stomach and crawling into the vent. There was a loud clang as Gordon did the same.

The red material of the vent was oddly warm and seemed to pulse beneath Adrian’s palms, and they were fairly certain they shouldn’t be breathing in whatever the glowing red particles floating around them were, but they supposed that was more of an issue for Gordon then it was for them.

Either way, the only way farther was through, so Adrian kept pushing onwards, until the vents dropped them into the next section of the factory. As soon as Adrian had full use of their arms, they brought out their gun- this section of the factory was teeming with both the three-armed bipeds and the floating things. They moved out of the way to give Gordon space to drop, and began firing, taking down as many as they could and occasionally pausing to dodge out of the way and reload. Gordon joined them and eventually, the air was silent of both alien wails and gunfire. Adrian shook out their arms, and pointed to the green glow of the portal up above. Gordon followed the line of their finger, and nodded. 

Gordon led the way towards one of the walls of the factory, and up a ramp to the next level, just as a plus-shaped elevator slid into place beside it. Adrian and Gordon stepped on.

It didn’t spin very quickly, or for very long, but Adrian still felt a bit dizzy and disoriented by the time it stopped, enough so that Gordon had to grab their arm to keep them from falling off the next platform as their foot missed it by a few centimeters. Once sure that they were safe, Gordon huffed out a laugh. Adrian elbowed him in the side, and kept moving forward, careful not to stumble over their own feet again. They were just glad they’d already taken out all of the enemies in the room- they probably wouldn’t be much help with a gun right now.

They continued along the platform with Gordon in toe, and just as their head stopped spinning, they arrived at the next elevator and, very reluctantly, stepped on. 

Once they arrived, Gordon helped them off without prompting, and led them to the next elevator.

“Last one,” he signed with amusement, and Adrian huffed, waving him off. They waited a moment for the elevator to dock, and then stepped on.

When the elevator reached its apex, Adrian stumbled towards the portal, and ended up more falling than stepping into it. The last thing they heard was Gordon laughing quietly behind them, before their ears were filled with a loud crash of static.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting into the final stretch here! Next chapter will be out on Thursday


	6. The Nihilanth

When Adrian’s vision cleared, it took them a long moment to realize it had- the sky above them was completely dark, not a star in sight. They never would have described themself as afraid of the dark, but staring up at that infinite blackness made something curl uncomfortably in their gut. 

Luckily, they weren’t forced to dwell on that for long, as Gordon appeared beside them and helped them to their feet.

Strewn throughout the inky dark was a series of small islands, leading up to a larger one. There, in the center of the largest island, was a structure of tan spires, all curling loosely around a bright red orb. The twisting in Adrian’s gut tightened even further. 

“Seems like final boss territory,” Adrian managed, and Gordon gave a grim nod. “Well, let’s get this over with.”

Adrian led the way to the largest island, jumping easily from island to island until they landed on the largest one. Gordon landed beside them after a moment, and side by side, they stared at the glowing red orb in front of them.

Gordon signed something out of the corner of their eye- probably asking if they were ready to go on- but Adrian couldn’t tear their eyes away from the orb in front of them.

They’d been through so much already, surely whatever was through that portal couldn’t be worse… right? They’d be fine. They had Gordon Freeman with them, they’d be fine.

Apparently, they took too long to decide, as Gordon left their side to walk over to the edge of the island and sit down. Adrian finally managed to look away from the portal to give him a questioning look. Whether or not that read through the gas mask was up for debate. Gordon just patted the space beside him, and Adrian reluctantly sat down.

Gordon tilted his head to look up at the infinite blackness above, and after a long moment of hesitation, they leaned their back against Gordon’s side. The sharp planes of the HEV suit were hardly a comfortable backrest, but Adrian’s vest protected them from the worst of it.

“What are you going to do? When we get out of here and… out of Black Mesa?” Adrian asked softly, and Gordon hummed.

“Find B-A-R-N-E-Y. I need to know if he made it out.”

Adrian hummed. They already knew what happened to all their friends- if they left their head empty for too long, the void would be filled with their faces, bloody and limp. Adrian shuddered, but before they could get too caught up in the spiral, Gordon nudged them lightly and started signing.

“What about you?” 

“I… I don’t know. I can’t- I don’t think I can go back to the military after this. Hopefully I’ll get an honorable discharge just for surviving all this bullshit, but considering I’m hanging out with enemy number one I doubt it,” Adrian let out a huff of laughter. “Maybe some military hush money is the best I can hope for. Enough to get a down payment in on an apartment far, far away from here.”

Gordon smiled. “I imagine I’m probably out of a job too, after starting an entire alien apocalypse.”

Adrian snorted, and then went silent for a long moment. “I’ll help you find Barney. And then… maybe the money’ll be enough for a three person apartment?” When Gordon didn’t respond, they kept rambling. “I know we only just met really but I’m not used to living alone and-“

Gordon nudged Adrian again, giving them a smile. “That sounds nice.”

“... oh.” Adrian said softly. It was an abstract idea, like telling your middle school friend that you’d own a house together someday, but it was still a nice one. 

They sat for a while longer, before Adrian straightened up and stood. “We should… we should get this over with.”

Gordon stood up and nodded, turning back to the red portal. They exchanged a look, and nodded, stepping together into the light.

The light faded, and as soon as Adrian got their bearings, they realized they were plummeting towards the ground. They weren’t too high up, and the gravity seemed even lower in this chamber than it had been on the rest of the planet, but there was still an instinctual panic as the ground grew nearer. 

When they hit the ground, their knees buckled beneath them, the sticky red liquid they recognized from earlier instantly soaking through their pants. That, however, was the least of their concerns.

Floating in the center of the chamber was a collosal being vaguely shaped like a newborn baby. It’s head was large and inflated towards the top, and it’s eyes and mouth looked like dark pits with no discernible features. It’s entire body was about the size of its head, pale and grotesque with scars- almost surgical looking- spanning its abdomen. A third arm protruded from its chest, the digits on all three arms long and pointed. The legs were short, ending in points that would be near impossible for a creature of this size to balance on. Luckily for whatever this was, clearly balance wasn’t an issue, as it sat on something metallic and floating- it was hard to tell whether it was part of its body or merely a transportation device. Glowing orange-yellow orbs swirled around it in lazy circles.

Adrian was snapped out of their gawking as a blue, crackling orb shot towards them. They barely managed to dodge before it crashed into the liquid nearby, and despite not hitting them directly, they could feel the electricity lacing through the liquid and up their legs. They winced, and dodged behind one of the spires jutting out from the floor. 

Gordon was behind a spire a few feet away, SMG at the ready. Adrian glanced to him, and nodded, pulling out their hand gun- their intent wasn’t to hurt, it was to distract. 

As soon as they fully regained feeling in their legs, Adrian dodged out from behind the spire and fired their pistol directly into the giant beast’s dark eye. To their right, they heard the heavy clank of the HEV suit, the sloshing of the liquid below, and the rapid RATATATATATA of Gordon’s SMG.

The creature let out a groan that seemed more annoyed than pained, and that’s when Adrian noticed that the only thing changing about the beast was the amount of golden spheres orbiting its head- the bullets were being deflected, and the spheres replenished. 

Adrian glanced around the room, desperate for a solution, and their eyes landed on golden yellow crystals jutting out of the walls above, matching the color of the spheres almost exactly. 

“Gordon!” Adrian called, pointing up to the crystals. Gordon glanced over, from the creature to the crystals, before nodding and redirecting his fire. Adrian dodged behind the nearest spire, and took out the two crystals within view. Judging by the shattering sounds that Adrian had no part of, Gordon had taken out the rest. 

Now that the spheres weren’t being replenished, Adrian and Gordon returned to their previous plan- Adrian playing distraction as Gordon got in what damage he could. They caught his eyes from across the cavern and gave him a nod.

Gordon returned it, and ducked behind a spire. Adrian stomped a foot into the liquid of the cavern, and began firing. Their shooting was haphazard at best, but a distraction was a distraction- and an efficient one at that. 

The beast groaned, and launched a large, green orb at Adrian. It reminded them of the portals they’d been leaping through all day- god had it really only been a day?- and they definitely didn’t want to know where it lead They scrambled out of the way and behind a pillar, as the orb hit the ground and fizzled into nothingness. 

Adrian took a moment to shake out their hands and reload their gun, before leaping back into view. The beast was turning towards Gordon, and they couldn’t have that- they pulled out their MP5 and began firing. The last of the orbs around its head disappeared, and judging by the unidentifiable fluid that dripped from it with each hit, it was clear their shots were landing, and Gordon’s likely were as well. The beast screamed, and crackling spheres erupted in a circle around it. Adrian barely had time to duck away and they hoped Gordon had done the same. There was no pained cry- not that there would have been one from Gordon anyway- so they managed to convince themself it was fine.

When they next peaked out from behind the pillar, they found that the creature’s massive head had opened like a grotesque flower, revealing something glowing inside. It looked like a weak point just as obvious as the giant crab creature’s pulsing sack, but they weren’t sure how to reach it from here. Maybe they’d have to be teleported by one of the portals the creature created? Then again they were exactly willing to take the risk- it was just as likely that it would launch them into space.

They didn’t dwell on that question for long, as a flash of orange caught their eye. They watched Gordon sprint for something on the ground, and pounce on it at full speed. 

And then they watched him go flying, soaring what had to be at least 50 feet into the air. While up there, he fired a barrage of bullets into the open cavity of the creature’s head, and it let out a groan, almost painful in its volume. Adrian watched, baffled, as Gordon crashed back to the floor, landing on his feet and then sinking to his knees. Adrian stared, and eventually Gordon glanced over and gave a feeble thumbs up, looking about as baffled as Adrian felt. Adrian let out an incredulous laugh, which was quickly cut off as they saw a crackling orb shoot towards Gordon. They rushed towards him, and managed to pull the both of them behind a spire just in time. 

Adrian let Gordon regain his bearings after such a fall, and set their eyes on the trampoline themself. They glanced to Gordon, who gave them a nod, and then ran towards the trampoline. Just as they jumped, they wondered if the HEV suit was the only reason Gordon survived the fall- either way, it was too late now, as their feet hit the pad and they were sent flying.

They managed to readjust themself to be facing the glowing orb in the beast’s head, and leveled the gun on it. They squeezed the trigger with as much force as they could manage, and unloaded an entire round of bullets into the beast before they hit the floor. They relaxed their knees and let themself roll forward, just as a warbling scream echoed above them. They shook their head, and glanced around.

Gordon was across the cavern, standing with one hand on the spire beside him, gazing in awe at the display above them. Hundreds of glowing green orbs erupted from the creature, along with crackling blue electricity lacing in all directions. Golden orbs joined the fray, just as the electric crackling grew deafening and began to strike the floor of the cavern. Without thought, Adrian made a dash for Gordon. Gordon snapped out of his reverie and did the same. The crackling reached a crescendo and the world flashed green, just as Adrian caught Gordon’s hand in their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! One more chapter left!
> 
> I haven’t mentioned it here for some reason, but there WILL be a sequel to this fic! Bad news (or good news, depending on how you feel about certain forms of interactive media) is that it’ll be an askblog on tumblr. I’ll post the link to the blog on Sunday along with the final chapter, and it will fully launch on Monday!


	7. The G-Man

Blue. A bright blue sky and a bright blue structure and a bright blue platform beneath them. That was the first thing Adrian registered. The second was a man in a dark suit towering over them, a faintly smug look on his long, gaunt face. His eyes matched the bright blue of the sky around them.

“You were never supposed to be here, Corporal… Shepard.” The suited man said, though he didn’t sound angry. His tone was slightly smug, but otherwise impossible to distinguish. “Still… you have proven… very interesting, indeed. I did not expect you… to survive… but here you both stand… alive and… well.” 

Adrian’s hand- the one not still holding Gordon’s like a life line- fell to their belt, but found no weapons. The sheath on their backpack was empty of its knife as well. The man in the suit’s lips twitched into a facsimile of a smile. “I have… taken the liberty of… relieving you both of your… weaponsss. They were… government property… after… all… as for the suit and… uniform… I think you’ve earned it…”

There was a flash of green light- a sight Adrian was definitely tired of seeing- and suddenly they were elsewhere- more precisely, an unfamiliar desert. The sky still looked alien, but the sand beneath their feet was familiar.

As was the crackle of fire, and the crashed Osprey off to the side. Adrian shivered, and didn’t look down. They could see the bloodstained uniform at their feet all the same. 

“The Borderworld, Xen, is under our… control for the time being… thanks to you… both. Quite a nasty piece of work you managed over there I am… impressssed.” 

The world flashed again, and Adrian felt nothing but relief when they found themself somewhere completely alien yet again. 

“That’s why I am here… Mr. Freeman. I have recommended your service to my… eeeemployers. And they have authorized me to… offer you a job.” The man’s eyes drifted slowly to Adrian. They felt like a physical force, and Adrian could barely suppress a shiver. “As for you… Corporal… we do not have room for… two employees… however… it would be cruel to… leave you here… alone… hm? Besides… we wouldn’t want word of all that… transpired… getting out to the general public… Rather than continuously subject you to the… irresistible human temptation of telling all, we’ve decided to... convey... you to somewhere where... you can do no possible harm, and where no harm can come... to you. I’m sure you can imagine there are worse alternatives.”

The world flashed again, and they found themselves on a tram of all things. Outside the windows was nothing but void, white streaks occasionally racing past. Everything within the tram felt cold and still. Adrian shifted closer to Gordon.

“You have both proved yourself… verrry decisive. So I don’t expect you’ll have any trouble deciding what to do… if you’re… interested… Mr. Freeman… juuust step into the portal, and I will take that… as a yesss. Otherwise, well… I can offer you a battle you have no chance of winning…? Rather an anticlimax, after what you’ve just survived…”

There was a whooping crackle, as a crackling and ever-shifting green mass appeared in the door of the tram.

“As for you… Corporal… I don’t suppose you have much of a… choice. You… will be staying here.”

Adrian moved to take a step forward, just to defy him, but found themself completely unable to move their legs. They looked to Gordon, who stared back with wide eyes. 

Gordon set his jaw, and squeezed Adrian’s hand firmly. He looked at the suited man defiantly, and shook his head.

The man frowned. “Mr. Freeman… as… touching, as this display of camaraderie is…I am afraid… that is not an option… as unfortunate as it may be… I have no issue… sentencing you both to… death.” 

Images of blood and battle flashed in both of their heads. Despite not seeing the enemy, they both know the man wasn’t lying- it wasn’t a fight they could win. Gordon’s hand loosened its grip on Adrian’s. After all they’d been through, it was obvious that now they were completely helpless.

Adrian smiled weakly. “So much for the apartment, huh?”

Gordon just frowned.

“Hey, gotta be better than dying, right? And you don’t have to worry about getting a new job!”

Gordon’s frown loosened just a little at that, and he pulled Adrian into a hug. Between the height difference and the armor they were both wearing, it was far from comfortable, but it was the first hug Adrian had had in a long time, and he had a feeling it’d also be the last. He savored it, holding on tight until the man cleared his throat, and Gordon pulled away.

Adrian lifted a hand to wave as Gordon stepped away. Gordon returned it, before turning towards the man. Adrian didn’t need to see his face to know he was glaring, and he couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Leave it to Gordon to glare down the most powerful entity they’d encountered so far.

Nonetheless, Gordon stepped towards the portal, and cast Adrian one last somber glance, before stepping through. Adrian let out a breath, and squeezed their eyes shut. The adrenaline was leaving their system, leaving nothing but hopelessness and cold dread in its place.

“Wisely done, Mr. Freeman! I will see you up ahead,” the man turned to Adrian. “As for you… well, I hope you enjoy your… accommodations.”

The world- the tram- shifted around Adrian, and they found themself in the familiar cockpit of an Osprey. The man was gone, and Adrian was left alone, staring into the shifting darkness visible from the open door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...well! That's that about that! Don't worry though, I'm not pulling a Valve and sentencing Adrian to the void permanently! The sequel ask blog isn't 'officially' launching until tomorrow at noon MST, but here's the link anyway! If you enjoyed this fic, I hope you'll tune in for the sequel as well.  
> [Here's the link!](https://overwatch-shephard.tumblr.com/)  
> Whether you continue to follow this story or not, I really appreciate you making it this far! This work was definitely a labor of love, between writing action (which, clearly, is not my forte) and writing about a less popular character. If you did enjoy, kudos and comments are always appreciated :)

**Author's Note:**

> I may be posting this to the public, but this is first and foremost for me- self indulgence is all about making your favorite blank-slate protagonists be best friends :)
> 
> Feel free to yell at me for caring about boot boys on my tumblr blog-  
> https://silverplaysvideogames.tumblr.com/


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